Stereodynamics of electron-induced dissociative ionization of N2 studied by (e, e+ion) spectroscopy

We report an ( e , e +ion) spectroscopy study on electron-induced dissociative ionization of N 2 . Vector correlation between the scattered electron and N + ion has been measured for inner-valence ionization of N 2 at an incident electron energy of 1.4 keV and scattering angles of 2.2°, 4.2°, and 8.2°. By analyzing the experimental data, partial ion yield spectra have been obtained for transitions to the C 2 Σ + u , F 2 Σ + g , and 2σ −1 g ion states, showing that the individual transitions depend on the momentum transferred to the target, K , in different ways. The molecular-orientation dependence of the ionization cross section has subsequently been examined for the F 2 Σ + g ionization. To account for the angular anisotropy of the scattering cross section, a compact analytical form has been developed. It is elucidated that for small K the F 2 Σ + g ionization preferentially takes place when the molecule has its axis aligned parallel to the momentum transfer vector due to σ u shape resonance, while the angular distribution drastically changes with K , indicating strong influences of non-dipole interaction on the ionization dynamics. It has been shown that the present method provides a powerful means to explore K -dependent stereodynamics in electron-induced dissociative ionization of molecules. Transferred-momentum-dependent stereodynamics in the electron-induced dissociative ionization of N 2 has been investigated via ( e , e +ion) spectroscopy.